Sluggish start on Wall Street as a rally slows

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market is getting off to a mixed start as traders show only mild enthusiasm for an improving outlook for the U.S. government's credit rating.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up three points at 15,253 in the first fifteen minutes of trading Monday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was off a point at 1,642. Both indexes were moving between small gains and losses in early trading.

The Nasdaq composite was flat at 3,469.

Standard & Poor's raised its outlook for U.S. government debt, citing stable spending levels. Two years ago the agency downgraded the government's long-term debt rating because of gridlock in Washington.

Japan's Nikkei jumped nearly 5 percent after first-quarter growth for the country was revised upward.